Applications of Computers in Medicine

Computer is playing very important role in medical fields. Nearly every area of the medical field uses computers. They are helping the doctors to diagnose diseases and for many other purposes.
The three main uses of computer in medical field are described below:

1- Patient Monitoring

Different electronic scanning devices (medical equipment) are used in hospitals. They are connected with computers. These devices are used to monitor the patient continuously. Thus computers are normally used in the following medical units of hospitals for monitoring patients.

  • ICU (Intensive Care Unit)
  • Operation Theater
  • Recovery Room
  • Medical Ward
  • ECG (Electrocardiograph)

The medical equipment with sensors is attached to the patient. It detects changes in heart rate, pulse rate, blood pressure, breathing and brain activity. If any unbalancing situation occurs, computer activates the alarming device, which creates sound and alerts the medical staff.

2- Maintaining Patient History & Other Records
The complete bio-data as well as medical history of a patient is recorded into the computer. The medical history is delivered to the related doctor for the check-up of the patient. In this way, much of the doctor's time is saved.
In addition to patient history, other information about doctors, medicines, and medical equipments is also maintained through computers. This information can be retrieved very easily and quickly.
3- Diagnosis
Computer is also used in hospitals for diagnosing diseases. Different medical tests depend upon the computerized devices such as laboratory test of blood.

One common use of computer in hospitals is to scan the body of patient. A special scanner is used for this purpose. For example, the CAT (Computerized Axial Tomography) scanner passes rays over the patient. It displays an image of bone and tissue structure of patient on a computer screen. This image is printed on the printer. It is also store in computer for later use.

  1. Medical images.
  2. Electronic medical records.
  3. Clinical Decision Supportsystem(CDSS)

(CDSSs) are computer programs that are designed to provide expertsupportfor health professionals makingclinical decisions.The goal of these systems is to help health professionals analyse patient data and make decisions regarding diagnosis, prevention, and treatment of health problems.

The benefits of CDSSs, including:

  1. Increased quality of care and enhanced health outcomes
  2. Avoidance of errors and adverse events
  3. Improved efficiency, cost-benefit, and provider and patient satisfaction
  1. Computer use in Hospitals.

The use of information and communication technologies has become widespread in the health care sector. This is most clearly seen in the increasing use of computers in hospitals. Technology has taken over the daily schedules of hospitals, and has allowed nurses and doctors to work more efficiently with patients and each other.

The specific advancements that computers have brought to everyday hospital life can be seen in four different categories:

  1. Clinical implications

In clinical implication, computers are used for:

  • Assessment
  • Patient Monitoring
  • Documentation
  • Telemedicine
  • Electronic Medical Records (EMR)

The use of computers in assessment helps in gathering and storing data about the patient. Computers are used in settings such as emergency, intensive care. Computers are also useful in documenting nurses' observations. There is also documentation on the computer that lists on a patient's discharge sheet all the personnel that worked on their case.In the category of telemedicine, the internet on computers is used to transfer medical information for consultation, examinations, and even some small medical procedures. Electronic medical records (EMR) have increased the efficiency of hospitals by making patient information readily available and saving office space for the storage of records.

  1. Administration

In the category of administration, staff (doctors and nurses, servants and employees) administrators use computers to define the cost of staff services.Computers help in the calculating of pay checks, the respective salaries of all workers. The respective taxes are to be taken out of each salary. This same financial system also keeps track of the bills the hospital needs to have paid.

  1. Research

In research, we can use computers for:

  • Preparation of a research document
  • Data gathering
  • Computer assisted instruction
  • Simulation
  • Tutorials
  1. Community setting

In community settings, we use computers for: gathering statistics, patient-appointments-identification systems, home care management, and automated remote patient monitoring. The types of information that hospital computer's possess are anything from classification of diseases to the geographical location of patients treated. Computer use in gathering statistics allows for accurate documentation in a compiled, summarized, and meaningful form. The information can even be organized in graphs for deeper understanding. The patient appointments-identification system of the hospital is a means to increase efficiency in areas such as waiting rooms.

The advantages include

  • Minimizing waiting time,
  • Smoothing the load of appointments,
  • Establishing patient priority.

The computer also assists in home care management. This includes personal medical plans for the patient that are stored in computer memory banks. An example of this system is an electrocardiogram